Indian investigators have accused Google of abusing its dominance of internet search to stifle competition in the country.

The preliminary findings of the three year old probe have been submitted to the competition commission of India and to Google.

The inquiry revolves around complaints filed by several websites contending that Google has been unfairly highlighting its own services in its search results at the expense of its rivals.

The allegations are similar to other accusations of illegal self-promotion in the US, Europe and other parts of the world.

Google has until 10 September to respond to the preliminary findings in India, although that deadline could be extended. It says it is confident it will be cleared of wrongdoing.

The company is already facing allegations in Europe that it rigged its shopping results to the detriment of rivals. European regulators are still examining whether Google manipulated other types of search results to keep traffic away from sites that could diminish its advertising sales.

Google has denied the allegations in Europe. If it loses the case in Europe, it could face a multi-billion Euro fine.

Antitrust regulators in the US wrapped up a probe into Google’s practices in 2013 without requiring that the company make any major changes to how it ranks websites.